U.S. denies man arrested in Venezuela is drug agent

CARACAS (Reuters) - The United States on Friday denied that a man arrested in Venezuela worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, after local authorities reported the detainee had identified himself as a DEA agent.

"He is not a DEA agent and he is not a U.S. citizen," said deputy press attache Jennifer Rahimi.

A DEA agent arrest in Venezuela could have stoked tensions between the United States and one of its biggest oil suppliers. Anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez ended all cooperation with the agency in 2005.

Venezuela's National Guard, which announced the arrest on Thursday, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the U.S. denial.

Authorities said the man was acting suspiciously when he was detained close to the border with Colombia while bearing Canadian and French passports and a Venezuelan identity card.

"The official at the scene proceeded to interrogate him and he said he was a DEA agent," Gen. Gabriel Oviedo told state television.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Saul Hudson and Xavier Briand)